Obama to Sign Executive Order Barring Federal Contractors From Discriminating Against LGBT Workers

The White House announced Monday that President Obama will be signing an executive order banning federal contractors from discriminating against employees due to their sexual orientation or gender identity. (This isn't currently against the law, which is kind of mind-blowing.) The White House will hold a meeting about the order on Thursday, according to Politico.

ABC News reports that the President has resisted signing the order in hopes Congress would pass a bigger nondiscrimination measure. The President doesn't have the authority to extend nondiscrimination protection to all Americans, but this new order will impact about 14 million workers whose employers or states currently do not ban workplace discrimination against gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender individuals.

Currently there is no federal law that protects LGBT individuals from employment discrimination. Also, there are no state-level laws in 29 states that explicitly prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation.

While the Senate passed legislation to prevent discrimination on a national level, it has basically been ignored in the House, which has little impetus to tackle it in an election year, unfortunately.